The key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion.

The signs of practice are not in extraordinary experiences but in extraordinary awareness of ordinary experiences.

Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

The mind of the past is ungraspable; the mind of the future is ungraspable; the mind of the present is ungraspable.

In the spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon; in the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter, snow will accompany you. If useless things do not hang in your mind, any season is a good season for you.

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

Like a dream, like an illusion, like a city of gandharvas, that's how birth, and that's how living, that's how dying are taught to be.

The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.

In my youth I studied, in my prime I practiced, now all my doubts are cleared.

The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

The dharma is not in the books. If you want to find the dharma, look in your mind.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

Recognize the emptiness of all phenomena, but do not become attached to emptiness itself.

Meditation is not about getting rid of thoughts; it's about changing the way we relate to them.

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

The practice of Dharma is a constant battle within oneself.

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.

When we understand others, we understand ourselves. When we love others, we love ourselves.

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.